


The Friends Who Stuck Together, And Wrote Their Names in Blood

by ierostache



Series: Paint it Black and Take it Back [1]
Category: Bandom, My Chemical Romance
Genre: Bullying, High School, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-08
Updated: 2014-01-16
Packaged: 2018-01-08 00:36:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 12,937
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1126282
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ierostache/pseuds/ierostache
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gerard and Frank are juniors at Belleville High Scool. They used to be best friends back when they were kids but soon drifted apart when Frank got Popular and Gerard stayed, well, Gerard. Now, at the age of 16, Gerard is bullied by Frank and his friends, as well as jocks. What happens when Frank moves next door to Gerard?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Going Back

**Author's Note:**

> So this is my first fic. I kind of have a huge thing for bully!frank/gerard and highschool AU's.  
> Sorry for the short chapter but yeah, as I said, first fic.  
> Also I am not american so if I get anything wrong from language to trivia feel free to point it out.  
> I'm still not sure if there's gonna be frerard in this fic or in another later one in the series but we'll see.  
> Title credit for this fic: Ignorance - Paramore  
> Title credit for the series: Welcome to the Black Parade - My Chemical Romance

1st September 1998 - Tuesday

 

Gerard pulled the covers over his head as he woke up to the sound of his alarm clock, sneaking one arm out of the warmth to turn it off. He just lay there for a few seconds, lost in his thoughts about how he still had 2 years left at that shit hole people called high school, that was until Mikey started screaming up at him saying he didn't want to be late for his first day as a freshman. Of course he ignored him and stayed buried in the warmth of his blankets.

 

“Alright, alright. Jesus Mikes I'm getting up already, will you stop being so pissy.” Gerard all but yelled as his younger brother started throwing shoes at him.

 

He vaguely heard his mother yell something about watching his language and he rolled his eyes, but still cracked a smile, because of course him mom would think of 'pissy' as a swear word. He squeazed into some black skinny jeans, which to be fair were more faded to gray at this point after all his failed attempts at doing laundry. He also put on his motorhead T-shirt, a black hoodie and pulled on his navy blue converse. His eyeliner was smudged from the day before so he didn't have to do much and he never really bothered with his hair.

 

As he walked into the kitchen he poured himself a cup of freshly made coffee, courtesy of his mom, and stole a piece of buttered toast from Mikey, which he thought was also courtesy of his mom since Mikey was unable of making toast without there being a freak accident.

 

The two brothers washed up their plates after they finished and went to brush their teeth, coming back up from Gerard's bathroom in the basement shortly after. They kissed their mom goodbye and grabbed their school bags before they walked outside the door.

 

Gerard couldn't drive to school yet as he was only 16, it wouldn't do him much good anyways since he had no money to buy a car, although he was saving up, so he and Mikey had to walk. Theoretically they could take the bus, but the school wasn't far from their home and Gerard was already bullied enough at school, he didn't need extra rounds with the same assholes that caught the bus. It was September so it was starting to get chilly in Belleville, not enough to be wrapped in scarves and hoodies, and the sky wasn't a dull gray yet, it was still sunny. However the light breeze had faded from a warm summery one to a slightly nippy pre-winter sort of breeze.

 

It took them about 20 minutes to get to the school gate so they weren't too early and while Mikey skipped ahead to go talk to his friends that he had known from middle school, Gerard dragged his feet along as slowly as possible, not wanting to reach the main entrance. He stopped a few meters away from it and looked up the sign that said 'Belleville High School, and when his gaze dropped down, he sighed deeply as he spotted Frank Iero and his friends, engaged in conversation.

 

“Yeah,” Gerard muttered depressingly to himself. “2 years down, 2 to go.”

 

* * *

 

Frank had arrived at school 15 minutes before the bell rang, it wasn't that he liked school, he was just eager to see his friends, since he had gone on holidays to Italy. He had a learner's permit and his car was pretty cool, he could only drive in the presence of an adult and since his mom had work he couldn't really drive to school. It was fine though, he'd be turning 17 in 2 months so he'd be able to get his license.

 

He was making his way through the main gate just as he spotted Andy, Pete, Bob and Gabe at the main entrance, all talking to each other, about what looked like something serious. Frank called out to them and they all turned and came up to Frank, each saying their hellos and bringing Frank into a maybe not so manly group hug.

 

“So what was that all about?” Frank started. “You seemed to be talking about something serious.”

Pete just chuckled slightly and shook his head.

“Nah, just a heated discussion about music.”

Frank raised his eyebrow slightly about this, not only because the guys all pretty much had the same music taste, but also because Bob, Gabe and Andy had looked completely petrified for a second when Frank had asked. Pete started explaining just when Frank's mind had began going through the list of all the most horrifying things that they could have been talking about.

“Bob here decided to say that Black Flag beat Misfits, but I totally disagree. C'mon tell him I'm right Frankie.”

Frank looked at Bob and did a short mocking gasp.

“Robert Bryar I cannot believe you think that Black Flag is better than the Misfits. I mean yeah they're awesome but dude, the fucking Misfits. You can't beat that shit.” Frank argued and left his hands hanging in the air to emphasize his point.

Bob just laughed and ruffled his hair.

“Yeah ok Frankie.” Just as Frank was about to turn around to look at the people arriving, Bob caught his attention. “And one more thing Iero, don't call me Robert again.”

Frank knew that bob had to be dead serious to be using his last name, so he nodded and then turned around and saw him.

 

Gerard Way, or as he liked to call him, fag, freak, pansy, princess, idiot, art loser, and among other things. There he was, just walking miserably towards the main entrance. Frank smirked slightly and waved his hand around to get the attention of the guys who were talking behind him. When he heard silence he started speaking.

 

“Hey dudes look, the freak's headed this way, we should totally get to be the first ones to give him shit this year.”

He turned around and looked at his friends with a shit eating evil grin, who all looked fairly uncertain.

“I don't know Frank,” Gabe spoke up. “I mean it's still pretty early in the morning and it's the first day back, can we not just like, drop it for now?”

The rest of the guys nodded in agreement and Frank rolled his eyes and scowled at them.

 

“Whatever, pussies.” He murmured as he walked towards Gerard. “Hey freak!” he said rather loudly. Gerard immediately snapped his head up in Frank's direction and frowned. Frank smirked slightly and continued with his torment. “How was your holiday princess? Did you get a lot of dick this summer? Oh, I almost forgot, who would want to fuck someone like you? Not everyone likes a disgusting faggot.”

The only name that Frank called Gerard that he winced at internally is faggot. Mainly because he didn't really have the right to call him so, considering he'd slept with all sorts of guys and girls.

Gerard just sighed. He almost looked bored. “What do you want Frank?”

Frank was getting really tired of Gerard's pissy diva attitude, no one had the right to be like that with Frank, except his mom. “Just wanted to remind you how much of a worthless piece of shit you are. How you're a disgusting idiot and a fucktard. Have a nice day Gerard Gay.” He said as he walked back to his friends. He heard Gerard sigh again and say something along the lines of 'Yeah whatever you too Frank', but ignored him completely, instead smirking at his friends and proud of his torment.

Andy shook his head slightly and said that they should just go inside, that the bell was going to ring soon.

 

Frank had no idea why the hell his friends were acting so weird today, maybe they had to just get back into the rhythm of school. Yeah that was it, they were still used to not doing much all summer.

 

* * *

 

 

Gerard just kept walking ahead looking downward, trying desperately not to let the words Frank had said get to him, he was just lucky his friends didn't get involved this time. What had happened between him and Frank was weird, sad, but weird. Mikey hated Frank's guts considering Frank bullied Gerard even after their history.

 

The story went a little like this:

 

Gerard had met Frank back in Kindergarten, Gerard was the new boy and just sat doodling in a corner, because most of all the other kids were being mean to him. Not Frank though, Frank just sat by his side and watched him doodle. Gerard didn't even notice he was there until he spoke up and said Gerard made really pretty drawings. Gerard had kind of smiled and blushed and said thank you, that's when Frank invited Gerard to play with him and they had been inseparable ever since.

 

All through primary school, when one of them would get sick the other would mope all day. Whenever Frank would break a bone, which was a lot, Gerard would do little doodles of vampires and wolves on his cast, which Frank thought was so much cooler than getting random signatures. Whenever Gerard got bullied at school, Frank would stand up for him even though he was smaller than most of the other kids. They would spend most days at each others houses and weekends almost always ensured a sleepover. They were each others other half and they always promised they would be best friends forever.

 

Well that turned out real fucking great.

 

As soon as they left primary and started going to middle school, Frank started changing, growing up. He started saying that comic books were for nerds and superheroes were for kids. Visits to his house started becoming less frequent and sleepovers had stopped all together, Frank had said only children had sleepovers. Popularity and girlfriends became Frank's main goal, whilst Gerard just wanted to make it through the day without becoming a punching bag, because yeah, bullying in primary school may be harsh words that leave you in tears, but once you go to middle school it can be a hell of a lot more. Gerard was surprised it even lasted as long as it did, that they managed to get through about 1 or 2 years of middle school until they eventually lost contact all together. It wasn't like there was some big fight or anything, it's just that once Gerard and Frank started wanting different things, and Frank promptly ignored Gerard when he was speaking to listen to someone more interesting or ditching him to hang out with someone more popular, they drifted apart.

 

Then when they moved to middle school at age 14, Frank started bullying him. At first it was hard for Gerard considering his dad had died that year, and his mom was a mess and he had to get jobs babysitting to help out with bills, but then he just got used to it and made it through the day. At least frank and his friends never touched him apart from shoving him against lockers, they were mostly about the insults unlike the other jock assholes who used Gerard for boxing practice. Still, the emotional pain of Frank's tauntings probably hurt more than the physical pain the jocks gave him. He tried to hide it by pretending to be bored and fed up with the insults, but every time Frank would spit a name at him Gerard felt as if all his bones had been broken whilst his heart was being stabbed a few times. Frank had been his best friend, hell Frank was the only friend he ever had without counting Mikey.

 

He didn't even know why Frank started bullying, much less why he hadn't stopped and tried to be his friend again. Frank and his friend's weren't jocks, yeah insanely popular but at some point Frank must have realized that comics weren't for nerds and sleepovers and superheroes weren't for children because he and his friends seemed to like them. So he was pretty much like Gerard. Except he wasn't, because Gerard was a loser whose only friends were his brother and his mom, and Frank was popular and went to parties every weekend where he'd fuck someone. Girls and boys were falling at Frank's feet, and Frank took both. He had enough power in this school to be bi and not get shit for it. And that was saying something.

 

Anyway here they were 4 years after they stopped being friends and two years after Frank started bullying Gerard, and all Gerard could do was pray to God that these two years would pass quickly and then he'd hopefully get into art school and never have to see Frank again.  

* * *

Frank had a few classes with Gerard, actually all of them except art, because you know Gerard was actually _good_ at it. So naturally he taunted him in some way or another every time he saw Gerard making his way to his little secluded desk in the corner. He thought that maybe he could shove him against a locker later on, it was the beginning of the year so the opportunity called. Yeah, he thought. He was totally shoving Gerard against a locker at lunch break.

 

When he did find that the bell was ringing for lunch he and his friends went out for his search and spent 15 minutes roaming the halls looking for Gerard, he actually knew it was going to be hard because Gerard mostly hid during lunch time, trying to get away from the jocks and possibly Frank, however he did not expect it when Gerard came shuffling awkwardly towards them. He flicked his gaze between the group of friends and then his eyes landed on Frank.

 

“Um, could I maybe like, talk to you for a second Frank?” he muttered under his breath, so quiet that Frank had to strain to hear.

“What the fuck dude get the fuck away from me you freak, you're not my fucking friend” Frank immediately spat back.

Gerard flinched back a bit but carried on. “Um, I just need to tell you something and it might be important, I'm not sure.”

Frank glared at Gerard but just muttered out a fine in reply and he and Gerard shuffled away from the group a bit.

“I was just outside by the main entrance and I heard my name being called so I looked up and your mom was there and she said she was looking for you and if I could come find you. Yeah that's it. Sorry to bother you.”

 

Gerard just turned and walked away rather quickly after that, and what the fuck, because first of all that was the first time Gerard spoke to him in 4 years without it being a response to some insult Frank was spewing at him, second of all he didn't even get to shove him into a locker and third of all, what the fuck was his mom doing here?

As he made his way to the main entrance he considered that Gerard may be lying to him, but as he got there he saw his mom standing there smiling sadly at him.

 

“Hey mom, what are you doing here?” Frank asked, still slightly weary of the answer.

“Oh I've come to get you from school, we're moving house and I need help packing up.”

Frank stood there in shock. What in the goddamn fuck? They were moving house and his mom only decided to tell him now. Not that he wasn't happy that he got to leave school to pack up and you know, also leave that piece of shit home that just reminded him of his dad. But still, couldn't she have told him sooner?

“Mom, what the hell? Why didn't you tell me we were moving sooner?”

“Hun, I wasn't sure we'd be able to move into the new house until today and I know how much you hate our one, I just didn't want to bring your hopes up and then bring them crashing down again.” His moms voice was gentle, quiet. He knew she felt bad for not telling him sooner but he also knew that she had his best interests at mind.

Frank broke out in a big grin to his mom. “Okay let's go then, I have all my stuff so I don't need to go fetch anything.”

 

His mom smiled back and turned around gesturing for him to go with her, they walked to his mom's care and then they drove home, in peaceful silence.

 

As soon as his mom pulled up in front of their house, Frank all but ran up to his room and started blasting Misfits to keep him entertained whilst packing. He heard his mom come in and tell him to pack up the kitchen, his room and the dining room and she would pack up her room, the living room and the bathroom.

 

He was completely hyper, his mom had said if they could get everything packed by today that could move in by tomorrow, so naturally he packed as quickly as possible.

 


	2. I'm Not The Same Kid From Your Memory

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Title Credit: Ignorance - Paramore

 

2nd September 1998 - Wenesday

Frank was smiling so much the next day that Pete swore to the rest of the guys his face was going to break in half. He even ignored Gerard which, okay, was totally not normal. Gabe had even asked if he was coming down with something and when Frank called Bob 'Robert' and Andy snickered, Bob swore on his mother's life that he would kill them both, yet Frank was still smiling.

 

Yeah, Frank was totally off.

 

At the end of the day just as he was hurrying out of the main entrance dying to go home Pete had called him. He sighed and frowned but turned around nonetheless to talk to Pete.

 

“Yo dude what's up with you today,” Pete started “You're peachy as all goddamn fuck.”

Frank just smiled at him. “It's just that I'm moving to my new house today and I really fucking hated my old one. I kind of have to go now, my mom's kinda waiting outside.”

“Oh okay that explains it.” Pete said nodding understandingly to himself. “See you around Frankie.”

“See ya Pete.” Frank said, immediately after running towards where his mom's car was.

 

“Hi mom.” He said getting into the car and giving her a slight peck on the cheek.

“Hi Frankie,” she smiled. “The van's already arrived at the house so we can start unpacking as soon as we get there.”

“Awesome.”

 

The car drive to their new house was silent as Frank mostly stared outside the window smiling. He felt as if something was familiar as his mom was pulling up to their new house and, oh.

 

Shitty cocksucking fuck. There they were. The Way brothers getting into their house, the house Frank had been to so many times as a kid. The house that was right next to Frank's new one. Fuck.

 

Time Lapse

 

Frank had been moping all afternoon. He moved in right next to the Way brothers' house. Yippity fucking yay. He was unpacking the living room boxes since he had finished his room and his mom was still doing hers, when he came across a few photo albums. Yeah, he thought, this will put me in a better mood.

 

He loved seeing old photos of him as a kid. He just looked so happy and carefree. He had been looking at them for approximately 10 minutes and had just finished another photo album. He picked up the third one of many and as soon as he opened it his breath caught. It was a picture of him and Gerard. They were at the beach and had their arms around each others shoulders and Mikey was in the background making a sandcastle. Frank remembered taking this photo. His mother and father were still married at this point so he wouldn't spend every summer in Italy. Come to think of it that was his last summer he had spent in America. He had begged his mom almost every day to go to the beach with Gerard so every time him and his parents would go, his mom would ring up Donna and ask if her, Don and the boys would like to come along. And they always did.

 

As he looked at the little space next to the photo where you could write a caption he could see his messy kid writing in crayons saying “Gee and Frankie, best friends forever”. He flicked through the rest of the album quickly and could see all of the photos were Gerard related. He had no idea why his mom had kept them, and it certainly didn't do any good to help his moping. He quickly put the photo albums away and continued unpacking the rest of the living room.

* * *

Gerard had locked himself in the basement for 2 hours. Mikey had said he swore Frank sitting in the car outside the house next to theirs, which had just been sold. If Gerard's luck was that bad, which it totally was, Frank had moved in next door, and now not only did he have to endure him at school but also in his own neighborhood. To add on to that his mom would know he was getting bullied and she would worry even more than she already did. The only reason Gerard turned down working at a record store, even though it payed better, and went to work at the comic store was because it would've been more likely to find Frank buying records that buying comics. Not that that even mattered now since he was going to be seeing a lot of Frank anyway.

 

Thinking of work, Gerard realized his shift was due to start soon. So he got his hoodie and finally unlocked himself out of his room. He shouted a goodbye to whoever was listening and got out of the door, tucking his hands in his pockets because wow, yeah, the evenings are much colder.

 

He vaguely looked at the house next to his and when he glanced through the window, There was Frank, staring right back at him. He moved his gaze so he was looking forward again and continued walking to the comic store.

 

“Fucking fuck.” He said to himself thoughtfully. “Frank Iero has moved in next door and I'm dead.”

 

It wasn't even the fact that Frank had moved in next door, Frank wouldn't be stupid enough to bully his childhood best friend in front of his mom. It was the fact that as soon as their mom's found out they were living next to each other they would be having gatherings and what not. Forcing Frank and Gerard to be together.

 

“Fuck.” he said once again, just for good measure.

 

He soon got to the comic store and started his shift straight away. He had a nagging feeling the whole way that someone had been following him but hey, it was New Jersey, you were bound to get that feeling if you ever went out after dark.

When he got into the store there weren't many people there, 3 actually, and they all seemed to be together. One of them with a mad afro he swore he knew from somewhere. As soon as he got behind the counter, the dude with the afro came up to him and started speaking.

 

"Hey I'm Ray." He said in a cheery high pitched voice, throwing his hand out for Gerard to shake.

"I'm Gerard." He replied shaking the dudes hand, and still trying to figure out where he knew him from.

"I go to school with you if you're wondering where I'm from." Ray said. Either the dude was fucking psychic or Gerard's confusion was really obvious. Most likely the latter, although being psychic with a fro would have been pretty awesome. "Anyway I never see you with anyone and I was thinking you could use some friends." Ray continued. "I'm a junior, I'm pretty sure you are too. Those two love birds over there are Ryan and Brendon. They're sophomores" Gerard looked briefly over to where Ray had said Ryan and Brendon were, and sure enough there was a really girly looking dude with a scarf and some other dude laughing hysterically, with a really dorky laugh Gerard thought, to something the girly dude was saying. "Oh," said Ray as if he had forgotten something. "The dude with the scarf is Ryan, that's his boyfriend Brendon." Gerard nodded, they seemed good together. "So as I was saying, you're never with anyone so if you like you could start hanging with us at breaks and having lunch with us."

"Yeah," Gerard said. "That would be really great, thank you."

"Awesome," Ray replied smiling. Just before he went out the door he turned around. "Look for us tomorrow in the cafetria at lunch then, you can chill with us."

Gerard nodded briefly at him and waved at the guys before they left. Awesome. He had made his very first friends that weren't Frank, and they seemed nice. Gerard didn't think they'd pull the shit on him that Frank did. They didn't really seem popular, or like they had any desire to do so. They were just really dorky, and happy. Huh, happy. That's something Gerard could use more of at school.

 

He went back to work, still basking in the fact that he had  _actually_  made friends. Soon enough it was midnight so Gerard locked everything up and went home with his paycheck.

* * *

 “What the fuck was that?” Frank murmured after snapping out of his few seconds of shock. Gerard had just passed his house and Frank had just stared at him, and Gerard stared back. What was he even doing out at this time? It was like 7pm. Could Gerard, the king of loners, actually be going to parties every night, or clubs or whatever. He always seemed tired at school so who knows.

 

Frank doing the most logical thing his mind could come up with at the time, which was totally fucking stupid, decided he would follow Gerard. Pulling on his hoodie, he told his mom he was going out and then left, thankful that Gerard was still visible at the end of the road.

 

Once he saw Gerard go into the comic store he vaguely wondered why he had come to buy comics at this time and not earlier, he stood there for a few seconds contemplating this so when he decided to pass the store and casually glance its way to peek in, he was surprised to see Gerard behind the counter talking to a dude with a sick afro, answering a customer's question he assumed. He turned around and made his way back home, not exactly wanting to be caught spying on him.

 

As he made his way back home, he wondered who was actually that much of a loser to have a job at 16. Especially a job that was at partying hours. He figured Gerard probably worked from 7 to midnight, a half shift, and that's why he always looked like a zombie at school. Not partying, no, that would be way off for Gerard.

 

When he got home he sat by his bedroom window and opened it. It was facing the front of the house so if Gerard spoke to anyone when he came home he would be able to hear. He picked up his guitar, Pansy, from the corner of his room and started strumming some tune softly.

 

Time Lapse

 

He had practiced guitar for around two hours and then picked up a book when his hands started to ache slightly. He had no idea how long he had been reading but he figured it must have also been 2 hours since he saw Gerard walking home, just a few houses away from his. He heard the Way's door opening and saw Donna making her way towards Gerard, and they both stopped right outside Frank's house.

 

“Hey mom,” Gerard said. “Are you off to work?”

“Yeah hun, how was your work?”

“It was good.” Gerard started looking for something in his pockets then pulling out a white envelope and handing it to his mom. “There you go, they gave me my pay check early this week so you can get some of your bills payed.”

Donna smiled sadly at her son and took the envelope. “Thank you Gerard. You and Mikey have been so good to me since dad died. You just work so hard and you never even complain.” She looked on the verge of tears.

“Hey mom, shh don't it's ok.” Gerard said, pulling her into a hug. “I couldn't just leave you hanging taking care of 2 teenage kids and working at the office during the day and the motel at night.”

“Thank you so much.” She whispered back to him.

“Hey it's okay. I'm gonna go catch up on sleep now, school tomorrow.”

“Yeah,” His mom replied wiping away the few tears that had spilled. “You do that, see you tomorrow son.”

“See ya mom.” And with that Donna carried on her way whilst Gerard made his way into his house, and Frank just stood there in shock.

 

When had Gerard and Mikey's dad died? Frank had just thought Gerard was a complete loser for having a job at sixteen when he was really just helping his family to keep from starving. Frank was a horrible person. He had bullied Gerard for the last two years so he could carry on being popular, and he had been fine with it, not caring if Gerard got hurt or not because he was too worried about who in school knew his name. All whilst Gerard was having a tough time out of school because his dad had died and his mom worked two jobs just to feed her kids.

 

He felt as if he should make it up to Gerard. Would they still even get along? They had the same tastes Frank guessed. He knew Gerard must still be into comics and superheroes since he was working at the comic store and Frank had seen him with some cool band tees. But they had probably both gotten into different groups of friends. That's when it dawned on Frank. Gerard didn't have any friends. He had spent the last 4 years alone because of Frank.

 

He sunk down on to his knees and gasped for air, he felt as if his heart has just swollen up with so much pain and guilt that it was squashing his lungs. Gerard was always the quiet weird kid. The only person who brought him out of his shell was Frank and once Frank had betrayed his trust Gerard had closed off to anyone else. He didn't let people get too close because he thought they would end up abandoning him for popularity and then bullying him to stay on top of the food chain.

 

How could a person even do that to someone who had been their best friend, Frank wondered. He had been calling Gerard names and pushing him into lockers for the past 2 years. The same Gerard that he had spent so many hours with during his childhood, the same Gerard who would spend forever drawing vampires and werewolves onto his many casts so he wouldn't mope about having them. The same Gerard who would speak to him and he would ignore just to listen to someone who was saying something more interesting, the same Gerard who he would ditch at breaks just to hang out with the popular kids.

 

He didn't even realize he had been crying until he felt the tears drop down his neck and onto his clothes. He had left Gerard all alone at breaks to be with more popular people. Not people that he liked, no, just more popular people. He had left his best friend being ignored to listen to something more interesting, like who was having a party and when. Gerard could have been being picked on by other kids whilst he was hanging out with someone else and he hadn't even cared. Hell, he had been the one to pick on Gerard not much longer afterward. He had broken his best friends heart into tiny pieces and not even cared. Why not? Because he had what he wanted, being popular. Did he still want it though?

 

Frank numbly made his way to his bed, still crying, and felt the exhaustion from so much emotional pain. This is what Gerard had been through, he thought, only on top of that his dad had died and his mom was working herself stupid just to provide food. That night, he just cried himself to sleep, and promised himself he would at least stop picking on Gerard, if he couldn't reconcile their friendship.


	3. Start Fresh

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter.  
> Just so you know for this fic I'm making Frank older than Gerard because that would put them in the same grad assuming none of them had skipped or stayed back grades.  
> So Frank was born on the 31st October 1981  
> Gerard was born on the 9th April 1982

 

3rd September 1998 - Thursday

Frank woke up with a headache, and a heartache. How could he have been so stupid? He numbly made his way out of bed and got ready for school, he would talk to Gerard today. 

 

Time Lapse

Frank had been planning on speaking with Gerard at lunch time, it would have given him more time to apologize and explain, that was if he hadn't been sitting with people. One of them was the dude with the fro that he had seen at the comic store the day before, the other two seemed to be a tiny bit younger than Frank, and were so close to each other Frank was sure they were going to blend together. Frank had never seen Gerard with any friends before, maybe he had just met them. He could've gone and spoken to Gerard anyways, he wouldn't have a problem with speaking in front of his friends and he could just ask Gerard to speak in private. That was until the dude with the fro turned around so Frank could see his face. Ray Toro, the awesomely friendly dude who had started to teach Frank to play guitar in middle school. He couldn't even go near Ray right now, Ray had known what he did to Gerard, he had been there to witness it all. He was way too ashamed to even be within Ray's eyesight let alone apologize to Gerard in front of him.

 

Frank sighed defeatedly, he'd just talk to Gerard tomorrow.

* * *

Gerard was walking to school zombie like, that's what happened when you finished your shift at midnight and instead of going home to sleep you would stay awake till God knows what time, afraid that Frank Iero would somehow get into your house and beat you up in your sleep, or do something embarressing to you and take pictures and send it to everyone.

 

He was happy today though, he had finally gotten himself some friends, and he was having lunch with them. But what if they got picked on for being friends with him? What if they left him when they realized that being friends with Gerard mean social suicide? Gerard forced all these bad thoughts to leave his head, just happy that he wouldn't be alone, if only for a day, and just took in the morning.

 

It was one of the warmest days they had had that week. The breeze was light and running softly through the trees, rustling the golden-brown leaves and letting some of them to the ground. The sun was up and some clouds were scattered across the sky. The sun was reflecting a golden sort of glow, not the bright white one you would have in the summer, it was softer, more dreamy, and it blended perfectly with the colour of the trees. Underneath the thick dirty Jersey stentch, there were hints of the springy smell of pollen, and the earthy smell that would fill your nostrills after it had rained. Gerard thought that maybe he could paint something inspired by all this later on, even though he usually drew comics, or mythical creatures. 

 

He smiled to himself, ignoring the weird looks Mikey was giving him, thinking about how today could probably be a really good day.


	4. Powerful Words To Heal a Heart - Or Start To

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry I didn't update yesterday but I had rehearsals all day  
> also now I'm just going to start doing chapters by days  
> Yeah I'm a disorganised mess  
> also sorry to Trick because I deleted and reposted some of the chapters so your comments got deleted :c

 

4th September 1998 - Friday

 

Gerard woke up for the first time in a long time excited to go to school. The previous day he had had a blast, turns out Ray was into the same music as him and just generally really kind, Ryan was kind of shy and moody, but once he got out of his shell he was a really nice person, and a great artist. He and Gerard had spent most of math, which it turned out they actually had together because Ryan was good at it so he had skipped his grade level to do Gerard's, talking about different artists and techniques. And Brendon, well Gerard was still trying to figure Brendon out but he was so cheerful and giggly that it was hard to not want to be around him.

 

So that's how Gerard Way got friends. And the best bit was it was because they actually got along and were interested in the same things, not because they pittied Gerard, even though that's why Gerard had thought they wanted to be his friend. When he asked Ray about it, the conversation took a turn he did not expect.

 

 

 

-Previous Day-

_"So it's not that I don't appreciate this and all, and you're actually pretty cool dudes. But I don't really need pitty friends Ray." Gerard said calmly as they ate._

_Ray sighed. "Dude it's not that, it's just I've seen you work at the comic store and you always wear pretty cool band tees. I mean, the fact that you're a loner and not popular sort of helped. Frank Iero likes comics and cool bands, but his head's so far up his ass because of popularity that I wouldn't want to be within 3 feet of him."_

_Gerard hummed understandingly. "Yeah, him and his friends."_

_Ray snapped his head towards Gerard when he said that and looked kind of confused. "Not really, you'd be surprised. His friends are actually really cool dudes. I'm friends with Bob and then he introduced me to Gabe, Andy and Pete. I mean they're against all the bullying shit Frank does. I think the only reason they do it is to save their asses, not for shits and giggles. I mean the worst thing with those guys is Gabe's tendency to oversexualize everything."_

_To say that Gerard was surprised was an understatement. "So what you're saying is that Frank's friends aren't complete assholes?"_

_"No, not at all really."_

_Gerard didn't know wether to be happy or sad from the news. Sure it meant that at least some people weren't getting off on seeing him sulking miserably. But it also meant that all of his little theories, that Frank had only been bullying him so that his friends wouldn't make fun of him, were wrong. In fact it had been the other way around. All of Frank's friends had bullied Gerard, so that they wouldn't get shit from Frank. It turned out that his ex best friend did hate him after all. How they got to this point he still had no idea._

 

 

  
_  
_\- -

Gerard was still pondering on that conversation, when suddenly he heard his little sibling banging on his door telling him that he was going into school earlier, so Gerard didn't have to walk with him.

"Jesus Mikes I didn't know you were that much of a nerd." Gerard shouted playfully at his brother.

"Shut up Gerard I'm meeting with some friends there."

"Yeah right, more like sneaking off with your girlfriend."

Good thing there was a closed door between them or Gerard would've been able to see how flustered Mikey became, even through his poker face. "Whatever Gerard, I'd love to stay here and chat but I kind of have to go."

"Bye Mikes, have fun, wear protection." And eww, totally a horrible thing for Gerard to have said because Mikey was 14, almost 15, but apparently everyone was losing there virginity at a young age nowadays. Gerard had heard that Frank Iero had lost it at 14 too, and why he was thinking of him at that moment, he had no idea.

 

He got out of bed and scratched his head whilst yawning. He started to get ready, and didn't hear when his mom called out that breakfast was ready. He was too busy wondering why he was thinking so goddamn much about Frank Iero.

* * *

Frank had barely fallen asleep last night. Not letting Gerard know how sorry he was for being the stupidest prick alive had been like a weight on his shoulders, and he had a feeling that if he didn't let Gerard know soon he would continue having trouble sleeping. He hoped he would get a chance to talk to him today, because if he didn't his only alternative would be knocking on his door or not talking to him until Monday. He didn't know what was worse, he was still contemplating it.

His friends seemed to have cheered up the past few days, and they also hadn't suggested picking on anyone which he guessed was still out of the normal. He still hadn't told them about wanting to be friends with Gerard again, and not bullying people. Not yet.

Of course his luck was the shittiest, because as he made his way into the caffeteria, he saw Gerard with Ray and the two other dudes he had been with the yesterday. He figured it must've been karma, being such a shitty person for so many years had bought him double in bad luck. But now he had a choice to make, and that was either talk to Gerard at home over the weekend, or wait until Monday.

It didn't take him long to make his choice. Considering this was Gerard's second day hanging out with Ray and the other guys, he figured he must've made some friends, therefore he would probably be hanging out with them at lunch. So, talking to Gerard at home it was.

 

 

Time Lapse

  
He got home briefly after Gerard, he would just give Gerard a few more minutes and then knock on his door. He was scared shitless that Donna Way would open the door, or even worse Mikey. Mikey would probably chop off his balls, Frank was 99% certain the younger Way hated him for what he did to Gerard, he had always been protective of his older brother. But he couldn't leave it for another time, soon Gerard would be off to work and he had no idea wether he would be spending the weekend with Ray or not.

 _  
_He finally built up the courage and got up from the sofa, and made the short distance to the Way's house. He hesitaded for a minute before ringing the doorbell.

* * *

Gerard was down drawing in his basement, his mom was at work and Mikey had gone to his friend's house, so when the he heard the doorbell ring he had to be the one to get it. He got up from his bed with a sigh and made his way upstairs, while the doorbell rang again.

"I'm coming one second." Gerard shouted.

When he opened the door, he would've slammed it right back in the person's face, if he hadn't been frozen in shock. Standing there in his doorway was a very nervous looking Frank Iero. Gerard couldn't even speak, he was just waiting for some insult to come his way.

"So," Frank started. "can I come in? I need to speak to you and it will take a while."

Gerard seemed to still be frozen in place but he managed to vaguely answer.

"Um sure, just uhh, I don't know, we could go down to my basement?"

Frank's eyes went wide with alarm when Gerard asked if they could go to the basement, and Gerard picked up on it. "I mean, it's my bedroom now. It's more spacious and it has a bathroom."

Frank visibly calmed down after that, he nodded his head quickly and Gerard waved the way to the basement, as if Frank didn't know after being over so many times, and Gerard then shut the door after Frank had entered.

They made their way down to the basement and Frank immediately sat down on Gerard's bed, he gestured for Gerard to sit next to him and he did, keeping as much distance as possible and fiddling awkwardly with his sleeves.

"So." Frank said.

"So." Gerard replied

* * *

Frank was scared shitless, it didn't really help when Gerard suggested to go down to the basement. He thought his karma had finally got him real bad and Gerard was going to hold him captive and torture him for months before killing him as revenge. Thankfully it all came down to it being a change of rooms.

"So." Gerard mimicked him.

He looked around and saw various posters of bands and movies on the walls and pieces of artwork scattered all over the place that were most likely Gerard's own. What got to him the most was how it was all so much like the Gerard he remembere. Little stains on the carpet and walls, dirty clothes and comic books scattered all over the floor, the bed unmade and sporting a few stains of its own, a desk somewhere beneath all the clutter that had been thrown onto it. This was so much like the Gerard he had once known. The memories had him breaking down crying.

"Oh God Gerard," He hiccuped. "I'm so stupid, I've been such a dick to you all these years. You were so alone at school and you were already being bullied by jocks. The last thing you needed was to have your ex best friend treat you like scum. And even before that in middle school when I'd just abandon or ignore you to hang out with more popular people. I called you childish and a nerd when in fact you were and still are a much better person than I ever expect to be. You're the greatest person I've ever met and I want to make it up to you. I spent 4 years treating you like shit. I want to be your friend again and if you don't forgive me then it's fine, I totally get it." He was a slubbering mess by now, he had wiped some snot on his hoodie and he didn't even care. He had no idea how he had even said all that without stuttering.

He didn't expect to feel Gerard's arms to wrap around him and pull him into a tight hug. It made him cry even harder, here was Gerard, the guy he had tormented more than anyone else, being nothing but kind to him, like he had always been. He didn't even deserve the silent tears that Gerard had falling down his face, he didn't even deserve to be in Gerard's presence.

Finally he had calmed down, but nothing could ever prepare him for the speech Gerard gave him next.

* * *

It broke his heart seeing Frank like this, sure the guy had been horrible to him these past years, but Gerard would always have a soft spot for him in his heart. Here was Frank Iero, the guy that was tough and never let anyone talk shit about him, crying and breaking down in Gerard's arms. And he would've never expected it when he saw the face of his bully standing outside his door.

"Frank," Gerard sighed. "I hated you for so long after what happened in middle school, when you would leave me abandoned and ignored me. But when I got home and all I would think about was being with you reading comic books or pretending to be superheroes, I realized I never hated you, I just missed you. I could never hate you Frank Iero, and you are not a bad person, you just made stupid decisions, but you're young and you can still change yourself for the better. And yeah, it's going to take me a while to forgive you and to fully trust you again, if I ever can," Frank let out a tiny whimper at that. "but," Gerard emphasized. "I'm not going to shut you out. I missed being around you so much these last years. I just wanted to be with you, even for 5 minutes. We were attatched by the hip, and I've missed being like that with someone so much you have no idea. And I know for a fact I'd only be able to be like that with you. You hurt me so, so much. But I'd hurt myself and you even more if I turned you away. I don't want to do that, you're here apologizing for hurting me, it'd be pretty damn hypocritical of me if I hurt you by neglecting you just like you neglected me. Like I said, it's going to take time, but, patience is a virtue, and all good things come to those who wait. So I'm willing to give our friendship another shot, and I'm not going to sugarcoat it for you, it's not going to be like it used to be after what you did, it was pretty bad, but I am going to become friends with you again, and we'll rediscover each other, and if it takes ten years for us to trust each other fully again, then I will wait ten years."

By this time Frank was sobbing again, and Gerard was leaking a few tears of his own. He had no idea what he was signing up to, but Frank seemed pretty sincere, and he was always a firm believer that everyone deserved second chances. Besides, he had gone through the pain of being pushed away, and he didn't want anyone else to go through it, not even someone who had hurt him as much as Frank. So he just held him in a hug while they both cried themselves out. 

 


	5. Think Of A New Life

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the last few chapters are probably gonna be short but I have no idea.  
> Chapter Title Credit: Future - Paramore

 

7th September 1998 - Monday

Frank guessed his karma wasn't as bad as he originally thought because Gerard had accepted being his friend again, he was pretty sure he wouldn't even want to speak to him, hell he had almost thought that Gerard would just shut the door in his face. But no, Gerard was his friend again, and yeah he didn't trust him yet, but trust is earned, and Frank would have to work a fuck load to get Gerard's trust back.

He had even been lucky when they told Mikey they were friends again. Frank was sure he'd wake up in a hospital but Mikey simply raised an eyebrow at them and told Gerard to make sure he wasn't doing anything stupid, before wandering off to someone's house. And during all this he just kept the same monotone voice and poker face, and if he did have any anger towards Frank, he was doing a damn good job at hiding it. Frank kind of had to admire the kid for it, not everyone could pull that off.

Though now, whilst walking to school with Gerard, he had to pray to whatever guardian angels he had left that his friends wouldn't give him shit when he told them he was Gerard's friend again. Whatever, if they gave him shit they weren't true friends, and he would much rather hang out with Gerard rather than push him away again. Besides, if he had the courage to face Mikeyway, the dude was 14 but fucking terrifying, then his friends would be a piece of cake.

 

As soon as they got to school Frank grabbed Gerard's hand and dragged him towards his friends, he might as well get it over with. 

"Hey guys." Frank started gripping Gerard's wrist tightly, he looked over to see that Gerard looked much calmer than he felt. How was Gerard so calm when he was facing the people who had bullied for him the last two years? "I'm here to tell you that I'm gonna start Gerard and his friends and you can either join us or if you have a problem with it then stop hanging around me." He said quickly.

His friends all looked slightly taken aback, but soon smiled. 

"Finally Frankie," Pete said. "We really hated bullying Gerard, well anyone really."

Frank was baffled when everyone grunted an agreement, even Gerard didn't look surprised by this.

"Yeah," Bob continued. "I mean Gerard's a really cool kid Frank, sure he's a bit dorky and into comics and superheroes, but so are we. We're really no different than him except we're popular for beating up kids like him, when we're the exact same. It's just not right dude. The only reason we did it was because you really got your kicks from it and you're our friend."

"So what you mean to say," Frank said. "Is that I was the only one being an asshole to my best friend for these past two years?"

"Not really," Gerard said. Everyone turned to him."You were all assholes, sorry guys, but you all bullied me. It doesn't matter the reason you did it, but you did and it's still really shitty. But yeah Frank, I think you were the only one that actually liked doing it."

Frank opened and closed his mouth, looking like a fish, when he finally let out a breathy 'woah', completely baffled at everything that had happened in the last week.

"So," Bob continued the conversation. "Who do you hang out with Gerard, we didn't know you had friends. no offense."

"None taken." Gerard said. "Actually I just met them the other day. Ray Toro and then two sophomores, Ryan Ross and Brendon Urie. They're kind of a thing together so please don't give them shit."

"Yeah we know Ray." Bob replied nodding his head acknowledgingly. "And don't worry, we're not really homobphobic. Well we bullied people for it, which was shitty and hypocritical because Frankie and Gabe here take whatever. And I'll give you a prize if you can find someone gayer than Pete."

Gerard giggled a bit at that because hey, himself. He was so certain he was gayer than anyone ever. Well, until Pete opened his mouth.

"Oh yeah, I think I've seen that Ryan kid with Brendon. They're cute, when are the babies coming." Because that was totally a Pete thing to say.

"No, no, no," Gabe continued. "Having a baby is too much of a commitment, all you need is a good fuck. Babies complicate things." Because that was apparently all Gabe would talk about. Good fucks.

He and Frank giggled like mad men at the argument, and Bob and Andy looked like they totally hated everyone in that moment. They would get along well with Mikey, Gerard thought.

And with his new made friends, he headed towards where Ray, Ryan and Brendon were.

Yeah, one week ago he would've never imagined this being his life.

* * *

Frank sat at lunch with all of his friends, it turned out that even though they were sohphomores, Ryan and Brendon were totally cool and hillarious. Ray hesitated for a while when they had approached them, but now he was talking animatedly with Frank about guitar and Ryan listening intently. Pete and Gabe were pestering Gerard and Brendon, who were blushing madly, with sex talk, and Bob and Andy were talking about drummers.

Suddenly Mikey sat down at their table, with a shy looking blond boy, whom he recognized from some of his classes.

"Hey I don't mind if we sit here, I'm Mikey, Gerard's brother, and this is Patrick."

"No not at all, have a seat." Frank said, still trying to get on a better side of Mikey.

Each one of them introduced themselves, and Frank had to stiffle a giggle at Pete's adoring expression once he saw Patrick.

Soon all of them were engaged in a discussion about bands, and not long after Patrick and Brendon had decided it would be funny to do a duet of Everybody by the Backstreet Boys. And Frank's not gonna lie, it was totally funny. And then at that moment he was suddenly so glad he had the balls to apologize to Gerard, because this was pretty great.

 


	6. The Idea

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's such a short chapter but yeah, they're going to be fairly short.  
> I am now crying because momiji_neyuki left kudos on this and her fanfics are great ok

 

8th September 1998 - Tuesday

Frank was lying down on Gerard's bed having a movie marathon with him. It had been the second day they all hung out together at school, and Gerard's trust was being easy to win back. Now Mikey was the real problem, Mikey wouldn't even look at Frank unless he had to, and Frank really liked the kid, he was hoping he'd warm up to him.

Then the idea hit him like a brick.

"Hey Gerard," Gerard made a noise of acknowledgement which Frank took as a sign to carry on. "Isn't it your brother's birthday on Thursday?"

Gerard looked at Frank then started to count the days on his fingers, which Frank did not find incredibly cute.

"Oh shit," Gerard said. "You're totally right. How could I almost forget my brother's birthday?"

"You did forget you dick, you would've never remembered if it weren't for me." Frank said playfully, even though it was kind of true.

"So I was thinking," Frank carried on. "That maybe we could throw him like a surprise party. Like have all the guys here when he gets home from school and then we'd order pizza and play video games and watch movies till the early hours in the morning."

"Yeah that would be a great idea if we didn't have school the next day. Besides, how are we even meant to get home before Mikey and set everything up?" Gerard asked.

"Well we'd skip last period on Thursday and then skip school Friday." Frank stated simply grinning at gerard madly.

Gerard snorted. "Yeah right, I'd like to see you try to get Patrick to skip school."

"I'm serious Gerard, it would be totally cool."

Gerard hesitated for a second. "Look Frank it would be totally awesome but," he sighed. "I don't have enough money to throw him a party." He murmed quietly, look down at his hands and oh, Frank thought. Yeah, he almost forgot how Gerard and his mom had just enough money to stay in this house and put food on the table.

"Hey I know about your dad and how your mom is struggling, but how about this. Everyone pitches in just a bit, like ten bucks each, considering there's ten of us, that gives enough money to buy pizzas and decorations, and everyone can still buy Mikey a little present. How about that?"

"Yeah I mean, it could work. How are we gonna organize it all though? I mean we only have two days." Gerard replied.

"Oh easy, I heard Mikey say something about going to a friend's house tomorrow and we can invite all the guys over here whilst he's out to plan it."

"How is Mikey going to a friend's house, his only friend is Patrick and I know for sure he's not going to Patrick's house because Patrick said he was hanging out with Pete tomorrow." Gerard said.

"What about those friends from middle school you told me about?" Frank asked.

"Oh they're not really friends anymore, kind of drifted apart y'know?"

And Frank winced a bit because yeah, he did know, he had done the same to Gerard.

"Well who the hell cares where Mikey's going after school. Maybe he's getting some but as I said, who cares? We just have to grab the opportunity of him not being home and plan this thing." Frank said enthusiastically.

Gerard scrunched up all his features to the middle of his face and Frank did not think about how cute his nose looked like this.

"Eww Frank," Gerard said and Frank almost panicked for a bit, wondering if Gerard could read his thoughts. "Do not ever mention my brother getting some ever again okay? That's not cool." Frank let out a breath he didn't know he was holding and giggled a bit at Gerard.

"Yeah ok, sorry man. So tomorrow after school we all head here?" Frank asked.

"Yeah sure." Gerard replied, turning back to the movie marathon they had abandoned.

 


	7. The Plan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this fic is almost finished but the sequel might take some time to upload because I'm not doing it in chapters and also because I'm currently planning and beginning to write a bandom big bang which is actually hard as shit so yeah, sorry if the sequel takes a while.

 

9th September 1998 - Wednesday

 

Gerard had bigger things to think of, like Mikey's party, rather than Frank knowing about his family's situation. It wasn't even how Frank knew, well he did want to know that too, but Frank didn't even give him a hard time about it, or leave him for being a loser like Gerard thought he would. In fact he even offered to help pay for it along with everyone else. And as much as Gerard would like to give Frank a hard time in earning his trust back, he could feel himself giving in. Just wanting to hold Frank in his arms, hugging him tightly and telling him how he was an idiot but Gerard would forgive him any day.

He sighed a bit and got up, ruffling his bed hair in an attempt to flatten it out a bit. He still had to figure out how to let everyone know they were headed to his house today without Mikey suspecting, and that was going to be hard considering Mikey had super psychic powers or something. 

He was still trying to figure all this out when he realised he had already made his way downstairs and finished breakfast. He shrugged to himself and got the rest of his things ready, walking out of the door a few minutes later, without Mikey because he had once again gone to school earlier. Whatever, it just gave him a chance to figure out what the fuck he was going to do about Mikey's birthday party, and somehow thoughts of Frank had been added into the mix too.

* * *

Frank had laughed so hard when Gerard had arrived at school, panicking because he had no idea how to let everybody know about the party without Mikey being suspicious. It didn't really help his giggle fit when Gerard had looked at him with a face similar to a lost puppy's, but he eventually calmed down enough to explain how easy it would be.

"Dude," Frank said, letting out one last giggle. "It's easy, you distract Mikey by talking to him about whatever whilst I tell everyone to turn up at your house after school."

"Yeah what about Patrick, Frank? The dude might be a junior but he's always hanging around Mikey."

"Huh, didn't you say that he was meant to hang out with Pete after school?" Gerard nodded at that. "Well before you speak to Mikey just tell Patrck that Pete wanted to talk to him about today."

"Oh, yeah that makes sense. How are you so calm during an emergency?"

Frank laughed out loud. "Gerard it's hardly an emergency."

"Whatever Frank," Gerard scoffed. "Let's just go to class."

Frank giggled at him and he saw that Gerard couldn't hide the smile that formed onto his face.

* * *

"Okay it's going to be fine." Gerard told himself as the bell rang for lunch. "Mikey won't suspect a thing."

"Dude are you talking to yourself?" Frank asked, eyebrow raised and a mocking expression on his face.

"Err, no?" Gerard replied, feeling as uncertain as he sounded.

Frank huffed out a laugh."C'mon Gee it's going to be totally fine."

Gerard froze, the nickname that he had heard so many times recently, just not by that voice, bringing back a load of memories that just seemed to crash down on him. He smiled a bit, reminding himself that yeah, him and Frank were totally friends again, and that he didn't have to hold those childhood memories back.

"Ok Frankie, whatever you say." And if Gerard hadn't skipped ahead to distract Mikey, he would've totally seen the small, but pleased smile that formed onto Frank's face. Or him looking down and blushing.

 

"Yo mikes hold up." Gerard shouted as he saw his brother down the hallway, almost at the caffeteria.

"Hey Gee," His brother greeted. "What's up?"

Gerard decided he'd get Patrick out of the way immediately. "Not much Mikes, oh and Patrick, Pete says he wants to speak to you about going over to his house later on today, he's probably in the cafeteria."

Patrick nodded shyly and made his way towards the caffetria.

"So Mikes," Gerard said and oh fuck, now he had no idea what he would say to his brother. "Um," Then an idea sprung to mind. "Why do you keep coming to school so early dude?"

Mikey looked slightly alarmed. Well as much as he could through his poker face. "I told you, I meet up with a friend of mine because it's the only time I can see them since they're in none of my classes." 

Mikey was starting to walk away so Gerard, in a moment of panic decided he might aswell do what he did next.

"Mikey I need to tell you something just, can we go somewhere more in private?"

Mikey raised an eyebrow but nodded. Gerard mimicked his nod, and gestured for Mikey to follow him.

They were in the smoker's alley, because first thing at lunch there weren't any people there, and it was also secluded.

"Mikey I-I'm," He sighed, he couldn't believe he was doing this because of Mikey's birthday party, but hey it was the perfect opportunity, and if he didn't do it he'd just keep putting it off. "I'm gay." He stated simply.

"You think I didn't know?" Mikey said looking disbeliefing, and actually looking like it, not just a hint of it through his poker face.

"Well I, wait what? You knew?" Gerard asked.

"Dude, you'd drool all over Han Solo every time we watch Star Wars." Mike said.

"But-But, he's _Harrison Ford._ " Gerard argued. 

"Is this how you expected me to believe your not gay? Because that would've been a really shitty plan." Mikey stated amusedly.

"Whatever." Gerard scoffed. "Let's go to lunch." He figured Frank should be done by now.

"Hey," Mikey stopped him, putting a hand on his shoulder. "You know I don't care if you're gay or not right? You're still my big brother and I still love you the same."

Gerard smiled and nodded a bit. It wasn't that he was scared that Mikey wouldn't accept him, he just had no idea how to tell him. Thank motherfucking Frank for helping him with that.

 

As he made his way into the caffeteria, he caught Frank's eye, who nodded at him. The Plan was on.

* * *

 "So," Bob started. "We all pitch in ten dollars give him a birthday present and that's it?"

"Well no dufus." Frank replied. "Well I mean yes but you also have to brainstorm ideas for decorations and stuff."

"And stuff." Bob mimicked. "But I don't even know him that well. Help me out here Gerard."

"Well that is a fair point." Gerard said. "The two people who know him best in this room are me and Patrick, and even Patrick doesn't know him that well."

Patrck nodded in agreement.

"Well you could just tell us what he likes." Pete suggested with a shrug

"Uh like comic books, not as much as I do but yeah. Lord of The Rings, Star Wars, for some reason unicorns. He likes straightening his hair I guess."

"That makes two of us my friend." Pete said in response to the last statement.

Bob chuckled. "Hey we could get him the extended version of Star Wars boxset."

Gerard's eyes lit up. "Yeah I mean that would be great, Mikey's wanted that forever but we dont have enough money for it."

"This is as much as a present for you as it is for him isn't fucker?" Frank said playfully.

Gerard just blushed.

"Are you sure we can't get him a dildo at least as a joke?" Gabe asked.

"No, shut the fuck up gabe we are so done with this conversation." Andy replied as Ryan, Brendon, Pete and Frank were giggling furiously, Bob rolling his eyes, and Gerard scrunching up his face in disgust.

"Ok can we get him unicorn decorations?" Pete asked, managing to keep a straight face.

"What the fuck is up with you people." He heard Bob mumble.

"Yeah that would be pretty hillarious." Gerard replied.

"Ok so that's settled." Frank said. "We all pitch in ten dollars for the pizzas and decorations, ten dollars for the present, and tomorrow we're all skipping the two last periods for shopping and decorating, and we're skipping Friday because not one of us will be able to get up, I can assure you."

"I don't know about skipping guys." Patrick said.

"Oh c'mon dude." Pete said. "It's for your best friend, it's gonna be totally worth it."

"Fine okay jesus christ you guys."

"If you make me buy the unicorn decorations I swear to you guys I will kill every last one of you." Bob grumbled.

"No worries." Brendon said. "Me and Ryan can buy the decorations whilst you guys go buy him his present."

"Ooh, can I go with you?" Pete asked.

Bob rolled his whilst Gabe, Andy, Frank and Gerard laughed.

"Sure," Brendon replied. "As long as you don't plan on stealing my man whilst I'm picking out the stuff."

"Don't worry," Pete replied. "It's not him I'm after."

"Okay this has gotten way out of hand." Bob said.

"How is this way out of hand I thought the whole reason we came here was for an orgy." Gabe replied.

"Ok, seriously. _Way_ out of hand." Bob repeated. "Look so tomorrow we bring twenty dollars each and we meet at the main entrance two periods before school's out right?"

"Yeah sure." Frank replied.

"Ok then, I'm leaving. See you tomorrow guys." Bob said.

Everyone said their goodbyes to Bob.

"So," Gabe started. "Can we still have that orgy?"

"Shut the fuck up Gabe." Everyone replied in unison.


	8. The Start of Something New

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woah okay so this is the last chapter.  
> Chapter Title Credit: Start of Something New - High School Musical  
> I'm in a joking mood okay don't sue me for using cheesy HSM songs

10th September 1998 - Thursday

 

Frank was glancing at the clock on the wall every few seconds, jiggling his leg furiously. There were currently five minutes until the bell rang, and he couldn't be more anxious. The fact that Gerard was in art and therefore, not with him, didn't help at all. Gerard was like a security blanket to Frank. Even though he tended to be more panicky than Frank, he always calmed him. Frank figured it was the fact that Gerard was always a constant in his life, from the moment he had mmet Gerard, he had always stayed in his life, even if it was for being picked on by Frank. Gerard was familiar, Gerard was soothing.

The bell rang and Frank got immediately off his seat, making his way to the door where outside he found a very jittery Gerard. He grabbed his hand pulling him towards the main entrance.

"C'mon Gee let's go."

"What if he suspects something Frank." Gee asked.

"Don't worry he won't." Frank said reassurigly.

They raced towards the entrance, where they were fairly surprised to find everyone there.

"C'mon are we gonna go or daydream about it?" Frank asked. 

They all walked at a rapid pace to the mall, Brendon and Ryan giggling to each other, Pete totally not staring at Patrick while he blushed redder than a tomato, Ray, Bob and Andy going on about some band, and Gabe giving sex tips to Frank and Gerard, Gerard uncomfortable with the whole situation, and Frank laughing in hysterics at Gabe's ridiculousness.

When they arrived at the mall, they split the money, $100 to buy the present, and $25 for Ryan, Brendon, and Pete to buy the decorations. Bob didn't let them keep the other $75 though, which was probably a good idea considering it was Ryan  _and_  Brendon  _and_  Pete buying unicorn decorations, and that could only end in them overspending.

I took them a while to find the extend box set, about half an hour, which apparently still wasn't enough time for Ryan, Brendon and Pete to sort out the unicorn decorations. Bob had to go into the store take what they had, pay for it and drag them out of there saying they were on a schedule. Frank had to admit it was totally funny, almost funnier than Gerard's little-boy-on-christmas look when he entered the various stores looking for the box set. Almost.

* * *

They got home with about an hour to spare before Mikey got home, so they took their time, Bob, Gabe, Andy, Ray and Patrick putting up the decorations, Ryan, Pete and Brendon ordering them around telling them where everything went, and pretending they were on a home decor show, and Gerard fuming all over the place whilst trying to tidy up his bedroom, so there was at least enough space for eveyryone to sit down.

"Hey Gerard," Gabe said. "I found these two blow up mattresses upstairs, could I maybe like put either one up next to your bed so we can all lie down on them?"

"Um sure as long as you don't plan on using it for a massive orgy later on." Gerard replied flashing him a grin.

Gabe huffed out a laugh. "Dammit you ruined my plan."

Gerard giggled a bit and stopped cleaning, it was good enough. Better than it had been in forever actually. Then he and Gabe proceeded to each put up a mattress on either side of Gee's bed.

When the mattresses finished blowing up, Gerard glanced at his clock and saw that it was end of last period, so Mikey should be there in 15 minutes.

"Hey Frank!" He shouted down from the basement, hearing a muffled 'yeah?' in response. "Should we order the pizzas now or when Mikey gets here.

"Probably when Mikey gets here." Frank said just as he appeared at the top of the stairs. "The pizza could get cold if he's late."

Gerard nodded in response, running a hand through his hair, the other one on his cocked hip, looking around at the room. It was simple, but he knew Mikey would enjoy it.

* * *

They were all hiding since Gerard had said he had seen Mikey down the road. Frank really hoped Mikey enjoyed all this, not only because he was trying to redeem his trust, but mainly because it had probably been a long time since the kid had a birthday party. He made a mental note to plan one out for Gerard on his birthday too. He wondered what Gerard's reaction would be to a surprise party when suddenly he heard the door unlock. He could vaguely see Mikey step in and poked his hand out a bit so everyone could see his 'on 3' signal. Everyone jumped out and yelled surprise, and when Mikey saw the unicorn decorations, he laughed out, loud and dorky. 

"Thanks guys. You actually threw me a surprise party."

"Anything for you Mikes." Gerard said. "It was actually Frank's idea, and since you know, I didn't have enough money they all pitched in a bit to help."

Mikey smiled at Frank. "Just wait till you see the den me and Gerard made downstairs dude." Gabe said "Hours on end of movies, complete with pizza. Oh and tomorrow we're skipping so we can stay in and sleep."

Mikey laughed again. "You got Patrick to skip school?"

"Hey, you're my best friend!" Patrick protested. "I'd do anything for you man."

"Oh and here's your present Mikes." Gerard said, handing him the neatly wrapped present. Of fucking course Gerard could wrap presents perfectly what with thos artist hands, Frank thought.

Mikey opened it and his eyes grew wide, like really wide. "Oh my God you guys. This is fucking insane." And that was the first time Frank actually saw Mikey look excited, and really excited. For a dude who barely showed any emotion, when he did it was almost fucking intocicating.

He brought everyone into a hug.

"C'mon let's go downstairs." Frank said. "I'll order the pizza."

Just as everyone went downstairs and Frank went ot order the pizza, Mike stopped him.

"Hey I just wanted to say thank you. You're not a bad guy after all, just made stupid decisions. And as much as I want to punch you're stupid face sometimes, you make Gee happy now, so I forgive you." Mikey said.

Frank opened and closed his mouth like a fish, looking for a response. Instead he came out with a breathy thanks.

"Go on dude, order the pizza, there are people down there waiting." Mikey said slapping him on the back.

As he walked away Frank stared stupidly after him, wondering what had just gone on.

* * *

Many hours and movies later, Gerard looked around him. Empty pizza boxes and solo cups on the floor, Ryan and Brendon all huddled up to each other, Gabe complaining that Ray's fro was always getting in his face, Bob rolling his eyes at everyone, Pete watching Patrick more than the movies, Andy trying to see who he could throw pizza at, and him in the middle of Frank and Mikey. His best friend and his brother.

He would've never thought this is where he'd be two weeks ago, yet here he was. And yeah, he thought to himself. Two years down, two to go. Maybe, it wouldn't be as bad as he had thought.


End file.
